Bluesmen's World(Music)

Intense and spiritual, full of ritual drums and driving guitar rhythms, the fourth full-length from David Eugene Edwards's Woven Hand is as terrifyingly beautiful as any of his work with 16 Horsepower. As always, he hitches Americana instruments – banjo, fiddle, hurdy-gurdy – to industrial strength percussion, in a strange hybrid that borrows as much from Joy Division as Johnny Cash.

Nearly all the songs are bleak evocations of spiritual crisis. What's interesting about Edwards is that he expresses genuine and abiding faith right alongside crushing doubt. In the album-topping "Dirty Blue," he gazes into abyss under modern life. "You're curled up warm / In your own little corner of Sodom / Did you agree to believe that this fall / Has no bottom," he says in his ghostly, possessed voice, evoking damnation and salvation against a circling throb of violin. "I've lived by the book of numbers / And I'm held together by strings," he sings later. If anyone's ever told you that accepting Jesus puts spiritual angst to rest, this is exhibit A to the contrary.

Edwards is interested in traditional music, the kinds of songs and rhythms that older societies use to express and reinforce their most deeply held values. "Slota Prow," a mesmeric cut that is partly spoken in a made-up language, is a Gnostic haze of sound, the slow reverberations of violin and nickelback harp punctured by sudden shots of drum. A galloping beat emerges from this trance-state opening, urgent and mysterious, a call to holy war.

There is respite here in the places that Edwards finds calm – family, married life and music. "Swedish Purse," with its eerie church organ and plucked banjo, has a luminous, resonant center. The cut, whose melody was drawn from a medieval song, considers Edwards' love for his wife and children. "She has made place for me / In life for those our children / Sewn into her Swedish purse / I think upon these things," he sings, and though the song is more about solace than joy, it is an island of tranquility. The other break from intensity comes just past the halfway point, in an all-instrumental track called "Bible and Bird." The cut is a ray of sunshine, bright guitar strumming and lifting chords of organ, with none of the darkness and doubt (or the drums) of the rest of the album. You can almost feel Edwards relaxing, enjoying the pure physical and mental pleasure of lovely music. It's a pause to take breath, a relief, but temporary; it leads right back into the vortex in "Dirty Blue."

There are certain kinds of music that seem to put you into direct contact with the person that made them, an unfiltered glimpse into a foreign soul. Mosaic is one of those records, overwhelming, dizzying, serious and beautiful, a spiritual experience even if you don't share Edwards' difficult faith.

01. Breathing Bull
02. Winter Shaker
03. Swedish Purse
04. Twig
05. Whistling Girl
06. Elktooth
07. Bible And Bird
08. Dirty Blue
09. Slota Prow-Full Armour
10. Truly Golden
11. Deerskin Doll
12. Little Raven

David Eugene Edwards - vocals, guitar, bass
Daniel McMahon - piano
Ordy Garrison - drums
Elin Palmer - strings

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Angry folk-country-punk-blues, whatever, banjo wielding showman Eller sings dark and ageless tunes. An excellent and highly intriguing singer/songwriter who is based in New York City, Curtis Eller has successfully brought a variety of influences to his unorthodox folk-rock vision. The banjo-playing Eller’s work has an old-time feel, drawing on an abundance of direct or indirect influences from the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s (including country singer Jimmie Rodgers, cowboy icon Gene Autry, and Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson). But Eller’s material is far from a carbon copy of music from that era — there is plenty of rock bite and attitude in his rootsy work, which also contains elements of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and the ballsy outlaw country of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. Eller, consciously or unconsciously, reminds listeners what Dylan, Cash, Son House, Pete Seeger, and Haggard have in common — they are all known for being effective storytellers, and storytelling is where Eller himself shines.

The Queens resident is clearly fascinated by American history; he has written about the American Civil War, silent film star Buster Keaton (who he considers a strong influence), and aviatrix Amelia Earhart. Quite often, Eller’s subject matter can be dark; “Alaska” is about a mining disaster, and “The Execution of Black Diamond” was inspired by a bizarre 1929 incident in which a circus elephant was paraded through the streets of a small Texas town and “executed” (the mayor took the first shot) after attacking and killing a local woman. Circuses, in fact, are a major interest of Eller, who studied juggling when he was a kid and calls his band Curtis Eller’s American Circus. Eller has often said that his goal as a performer is to “capture the spirit of the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944,” a tragedy that cost 167 people their lives and became the worst disaster in the Connecticut city’s history.

A circus inferno is a bizarre way to measure artistic or creative success, but then, Eller’s eccentricity is part of what makes his work so interesting. A website on the history of Hartford has posted the lyrics to “Hartford, CT,” an Eller song describing the World War II-era tragedy. Another unusual thing about Eller is the way he plays the banjo, his primary instrument. Instead of playing it in an exuberant, bluegrass-like fashion, Eller often makes the banjo sound moody, haunting, and dark — in Eller’s hands, the banjo becomes the perfect instrument for songs about mining disasters and circus tragedies.

Originally from Detroit, MI, Eller listened to a variety of music when he was growing up in the Motor City — everyone from Son House to Iggy Pop. After leaving Detroit, he spent some time in North Carolina, where he was the musical director for a local theater troupe. But Eller grew disenchanted with the theater and moved to New York City (where he made music his primary focus). His third album, Wirewalkers & Assassins, continues to explore and expand upon the themes and influences (both musically and lyrically) from his previous work. Overall, the music on the album is a little fuller and darker than his previous albums.

Jordan Block

01. After the Soil Fails
02. John Wilkes Booth (Don't Make Us Beg)
03. Hartford Circus Fire, 1944
04. Sugar For the Horses
05. The Curse of Cain
06. Sweatshop Fire
07. Plea of the Aerialist's Wife
08. Daisy Josephine
09. Firing Squad
10. Save Me Joe Louis

THE AMERICAN CIRCUS:
Curtis Eller: Banjo, Lead Vocal
Chris Moore: Drums, Percussion
Gary Langol: Lasp Steel, Upright Bass, Organ, Mandolin
Joseph "Joebass" DeJarnette: Upright Bass
Liisa Yonker: Harmony Vocal
Marilee Eitner: Squeezebos and Harmony
Gerald Menke: Pedal Steel
Amy Kahn: Accordion
Rima Fand: Violin, Harmony Vocal

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Brown Bird is an original 3 piece band which draws influence from Alt.Country, Blues and Eastern European musics. Brown Bird began over five years ago as the brain child of songwriter David Lamb and has developed into a miniature orchestra of harmonized voices and instruments carrying Lamb’s haunting lyrics on surging waves of Appalachian, gypsy, and shanty music. The group hails from Rhode Island and pulls from the talents of each member to create a diverse folk music that swells into high-spirited, foot-stomping madness.

Brown Bird’s history starts when David Lamb returned to New England after a stint of unemployment in Seattle, bringing with him the first seedlings of a catalog of dark introspective songs. He settled in Portland Maine and Brown Bird crystallized with the addition of Lamb’s close friends Jeremy (voice, accordion, banjo) and Jerusha Robinson (voice, cello). Together they formed the stormy, ‘dark-americana’ sound that would identify the band for much of its earlier years.

As a trio, Brown Bird self released two albums: ‘Tautology’ (2006), and ‘Such Unrest’ (2007). Their third record “The Bottom of the Sea” found its home on the Portland Maine based label Peapod Records. Following its release in 2008, Lamb embarked on an extensive solo tour throughout the U.S. in support of the album.

While touring, Lamb met Morganeve Swain and Mike Samos two Rhode Islanders who would join him for several shows on the road and later become full members of Brown Bird.

01. Danger and Dread
02. Down to the River
03. Muck and Mire
04. Lake Bed
05. Needy Generator
06. Wrong Black Mare
07. Bottom of the Bottle
08. By The Reins
09. Gallows
10. Sickle and Hood
11. Severed Soul
12. Devil Dancing
13. Mabel Grey

David Lamb: guitar, banjo, percussion, vocals
Morganeve Swain: fiddle, viola, cello, ukulele, vocals
Mike Samos: dobro, lap steel, mountain dulcimer
Jerusha Robinson - vocals, cello, pick axe
Jeremy Robinson - vocals, banjo, accordion

Special Guest:
Micah Blue Smaldone: upright bass

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Willard Grant Conspiracy is a Boston ensemble led by vocalist Robert Fisher and guitarist Paul Austin. With a revolving line-up, they play elegant, evocative and melancholy country music that is a hybrid of Lambchop and Walkabouts. Fisher populates that sonic plateau with bleak, haunting stories of heartache and loss. Even the frequently religious tones seem more concerned with the absence of god than with his glory.

During the fall of 1999 the Willard Grant Conspiracy toured through 15 european countries as support for the Walkabouts. The tour ended in Slovenia and one of the last shows was recorded by Radio Slovenia.

The quartett begins the show with their vocals - acoustic guitar - electric guitar - violin line-up and celebrates four moody songs (Another Lonely Night, Evening Mass, Catnap In The Boom Boom Room and Morning Is The End Of The Day) before they are joined by Walkabouts drummer Terri Moeller for the "Ballad Of John Parker". More Walkabouts are added to the line-up and "How To Get To Heaven" gets a more than impressive full electric treatment. This is followed by the dark and quiet "The Work Song" (with extra backing vocals) and the grand finale almost 8 minutes of "The Visitor". The song culminates in a Velvet Underground-style freak out before singer Robert Fisher brings it home with his dark and brooding voice.
Just marvellous!

1. Another Lonely Night
2. Evening Mass
3. Catnap In The Boom Boom Room
4. Morning Is The End Of The Day
5. Ballad Of John Parker
6. How To Get To Heaven
7. The Work Song
8. The Visitor

Drums, Vocals - Terri Moeller
Guitar - James Apt
Guitar, Mandolin - Paul Austin (2.)
Keyboards - Chris Eckman , Glenn Slater
Tambourine, Vocals - Carla Torgerson
Violin - Peter van de Bos
Vocals - Robert Fisher (2.)

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The songs on Voices on The Eastern Wind were gathered from a wide variety of sources including ethnographic recordings collected by KITKA members while doing field research in Eastern Europe, transcriptions of recordings made by Eastern European folk artists and ensembles, modern Balkan composers' interpretations of folk melodies and original compositions and arrangements by Director Bon Brown.

These "Angels of the Steppes" bring to life rich and beautiful songs of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, and the Ukraine. The women of Kitka (Keet-kuh) are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, yet come from varied ethnic backgrounds. The spirit and beauty with which they sing transports you to the villages of older cultures and traditions with a feeling of the immediacy and drama of life uncomplicated by faxes and cellular phones. They sing of rivers and enchanted forests; of rushing to meet your sweetheart at the village working-bee; of helping a woman decide between the marriage proposals of a swineherd and an ox-cart driver. The ten singers use vocals almost exclusively; a gaida (Bulgarian bagpipe) is used on one cut; cello and cymbalom on another, and a third track has the accent of dumbek. Excellent in arrangement and harmony, Voices on the Eastern Wind will delight fans of all vocal traditions.

Backroads Music/Heartbeats

Rapturous and subtle--the layered singing varies from earthly harmonies to pristine heavenly sonorities."

Dirty Linen Magazine

Sends listeners into a trance with free-form fantasias of lush, sinuous, and dissonant contrapuntal lines."

Sing Out! Magazine

01. The Eastern Wind
02. Tikho Nad Richkoyu (Ukraine)
03. Duynel Idi Ut Oftcetya (Bulgaria)
04. Moma Bega Prez Livade (Bulgaria)
05. Bratets Kosi (Croatia)
06. Haydutin Stuyan (Bulgaria)
07. Predite Prelye (Croatia)
08. Dimyaninka (Bulgaria)
09. Son Mi Doyde (Bulgaria)
10. V Serykh Sumerkakh (Russia)
11. Zaspala Li Si Yagodo (Bulgaria)
12. Na Pat Yodam (Bulgaria)
13. Pustono Ludo I Mlado (Bulgaria)
14. Ya Ti Postilam (Bulgaria)
15. Ay Mori Milke (Macedonia)
16. Yofcharche Mlado (Bulgaria)
17. Vetar Vee (USA)


Kitka:
Bon Brown, Shira-Devra Cion, Catherine Rose Crowther, Anastacia Metcalf-Cuzzillo, Deborah Dietrich, Julie Graffagna, Janet Kutalas, Ann Moorhead, Michele Simon, Sonia Wyman (vocals)

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Coming from the predominantly Irish neighborhoods of South-Side Chicago, the Tossers have been expanding the boundaries of contemporary Irish music since the early '90s. The band chose their name for its derogatory meaning of ?throw away. The term dates back to Shakespeare and depending on who you ask it also means commode, drunk or the bunk British currency the Irish rejected after their independence in the 1920s.

Although their name may be irreverent, their music certainly is not. The heart of their distinct sound is derived through the melding of traditional Irish and Punk Rock roots. Combining traditional instrumentation of mandolin, fiddle, tin whistle and banjo with amphetamine fueled guitar, bass and drums, the Tossers play with a furious edge that teeters between rage and raucousness.

With over 15 years of the music grind behind them, the Tossers are a staple in the Celtic Punk and Folk scenes. Currently the band has five full length albums, the newest of which is "Agony" their second release on Victory Records.

While their live shows are fueled with a little bit of blood and sweat and a whole lot of whiskey and beer, their albums are dedicated to musical elegance and provocation. Possessing the ability to masterfully employ stark tempo changes from the brink of the insane to the solemness of an Irish ballad, the Tossers are an act that does not disappoint in print or in person.

Never afraid to take on new challenges at any venue for any audience the Tossers have had an eclectic past playing with acts such as the legendary Pogues, Spider Stacy (solo), the Popes, the Dropkick Murphy's, Stiff Little Fingers, Black 47 and Flogging Molly. In addition to this Irish menagerie they've also toured with hardcore favorites like Clutch and Murphy's Law; rockabilly icons Reverend Horton Heat and the Horror Pops; SKA classics like the Pie Tasters, Reel Big Fish and Catch 22; and moody rock n' rollers Murder By Death. The list goes on, as does the band.

"The Tossers are slowly getting their props as an American treasure. Too often lumped into the Celtic-rock scene as just another Pogues or Flogging Molly ripoff, actually they have been around for over 12 years, and are only now getting the press they deserve. Singer/Mandolin player Tony Dugginss songwriting has improved with each record (and on his intense solo release last year) and the songs here are some of the best in their canon. Perhaps because a lot of these tunes were played live for months before recording, the band is tight and raw, each member contributing to the tunes with subtle touches that could only have come from having lived with the songs for awhile. Ballads of love lost and shame encountered; stomping punk jigs that celebrate fall-down drunkenness as an act of glory; from the South Side of Chicago, The Tossers reach to the gutters and churches of Dublin and back again with another classic. Love them now, then have some whiskey and love them forever."

Mike Wood

01. Never Enough
02. Pub and Culture
03. Shade
04. Did it All For You
05. The Sheep in the Boots
06. Not Forgotten
07. Siobhan
08. Traps and Ultimatums
09. Leopardstown Races
10. Claddagh
11. Where Ya Been Johhny?
12. Not Alone
13. Political Scum
14. Romany
15. Movin' On
16. The Nut House
17. Be

Mike Pawula: Guitar
T. Duggins: Voice/Mandolin
Aaron Duggins: Tin Whistle
Danny Shaw: Bass/Backing Vocals
Bones: Drums
Rebecca: Violin
Clay: Banjo

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Los Angeles, CA- Called “one of the hottest emerging acts” by Time Out, Rupa & The April Fishes are specialists in crossing borders and building bridges musically, and that is exactly what they do on their new album este mundo. The messages on este mundo come from the real life experiences and travels of the band and lead singer Rupa, who is a practicing physician by day in a San Francisco hospital.

The record addresses many issues including life, love, art, death and the real and artificial divisions that keep us apart. By mixing musical elements of Gypsy swing, Colombian cumbia, French chanson and Indian ragas the band achieves a sound that effortlessly blurs the boundaries of genre and geography. According to lead singer Rupa, “este mundo is a collection of sounds and songs highlighting life’s accidental beauty and surging joy as well as their inexorable partner: human suffering.”

“French, Latin and any number of Gypsy-adjacent influences course through their mix with a pleasantly ‘San Franciscan’ kind of flourish. A little like riding with the top down in a double-decker bus, careening through seven or eight crowded ethnic neighborhoods, each one in the middle of a massive street party.”

LA WEEKLY

“If their debut reflected the Bush regime, Este Mundo seems to reflect the optimism of a new era.”

EVENING STANDARD

“at the cutting edge of world music… an ingenious mix.”

THE LIST

“What drives this whip-smart artist and her five mixed race band mates is a need to engage and stimulate in ways that get people hoping and thinking.”

SONGLINES

01. (La Frontera)
02. C'est Moi
03. Por La Frontera
04. Linea
05. Rose
06. Culpa De La Luna
07. Éléphant
08. Soledad
09. (El Camino Del Diablo
10. Este Mundo
11. Soy Payaso
12. Neruda
13. Trouble
14. Estrella Caida
15. Espero La Luna

Marcus "The Tone" Cohen: trumpet
Isabel "Iz" Douglass: accordion, voice
Aaron "Rhone-Ditty-Rhone" Kierbel: percussion, contraptions, fish
Safa "Jazz Spy" Shokrai: upright bass
Ara Anderson: trumpet, bass trumpet
Rupa: songstress, voice, guitar

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Recording artist David Vidal’s fourth solo CD, Americana Blues, has just been released on Los Angeles-based WilMac Records. The eleven song compilation, which highlights Vidal’s outstanding songwriting skills and acoustic slide guitar work, also includes two instrumentals featuring violinist Dorian Cheah.

Vidal is the former lead singer for Village of Odd Waters and a musical contributor to numerous films, including the classic My Cousin Vinny. His latest audio adventure explores the psyche of America in an understated, poignant and sometimes humorous fashion.
The album starts off with the lines “Here in America, we sit on the floor / We drink from the bottle till there ain’t any more. In the infectious I Own Peru, Vidal sings “I rent the airport to American thieves / They smoke the ganja, chew the coca leaves / I shoot them all when the party is through / It doesn’t matter, I own Peru.” In the last song on the CD, he states plaintively, “The devil’s in the details, he lives between the lines / He keeps the big wheels turning, he’s been workin’ overtime.”

Producer Jaime Fandango has kept the tracks sparse, sometimes featuring acoustic guitar and harmonica, sometimes slide guitar, and at other times a full band, including bassist Bubba MacNealy, drummers Rob Jacobs and Skip Phils, Detroit singing phenom Laura Creamer and Grammy nominated guitarist Larry Treadwell. Strong songwriting defines the production throughout, with occasional forays into the vast musical interior.

The long awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2006 release Nasty Habit, David Vidal’s Americana Blues is an impressive outing by the New Mexico born tunesmith.

01. Here in America
02. I own Peru
03. If i hadn't loved you
04. Coast highway
05. Porch funk
06. The Baseball song
07. Wrecking ball
08. Big hearted woman
09. My favorite mistake
10. Audrey's theme
11. The Devil's in the details

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"Nature's creepy. It seeps into your wounds and infects you; it covers your trees with ice, and it stalls your car. It's not climate-controlled and it doesn't live in your home entertainment center. And it coats with dust and peppers with age "Through the Trees," the third record by the Handsome Family, the husband-and-wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks (he writes most of the music; she writes most of the lyrics). Expanding their sound from the standard bass, guitar and drums to include a wider range of instrumentation -- softer guitars, autoharp, banjo, Dobro, violin, bass, melodica, piano, a quiet, unobtrusive drum machine and Brett's sturdy, beautiful voice -- the Handsome Family create a strange amalgam of pre-World War II country music and a more current, subdued, slightly twangy rock, with lush but simple arrangements. They write songs with a perfect narrative arc, and they seldom waste time showing off; they just set to music tangled, tense stories that sit like perfect little objects of nature -- like pine cones or something.

Entering "Through the Trees" is like passing through the threshold of a cabin door and into the woods on the first day of spring, or just after an ice storm, into a mysterious world, one where "worms circle like sharks" and "crickets are screaming." In these settings the Handsome Family create emotionally wrecked characters who are constantly battling dangerous impulses as they roam around the woods -- or sometimes, through the streets of Chicago, where the Handsome Family live. In "Giant of Illinois," two boys who chanced upon a swan sleeping in the woods "stormed it with rocks till it collapsed in the reeds." In "My Sister's Tiny Hands," a girl, mourning the death of her twin from a snake bite in the forest, "set the woods to burning and choked the river up with stones." These are old-school country songs, grotesque and brutal, and through these narratives they offer something dumbfoundingly magical -- something far removed from anything remotely meta or post.

"Through the Trees" is also about relationships -- birth, death and the in-between -- and because a husband and wife are creating and performing these songs, an immediate context is laid before us: In "Cathedrals," the Handsome Family move from a cathedral in Cologne that "looks like a spaceship" to icy Wisconsin: "Hoping to feel love under the icicles, all we did was drink in an empty bar. But, stumbling drunk we crawled back to our motel room and I fell against you and felt your beating heart."

Underneath it all flows a debilitating sense of dread and awe; a restless black fog floats in the record's stomach, the result of playing with dangerous emotions -- fear, regret, passion, sorrow, loss and a steady stream of foreboding. The Handsome Family poke at it from different angles. Also inside is a wicked sense of humor that cuts through the existential dread. "My Ghost," the closing song on the album, tells the true story of a stay in a mental hospital: "Here in the bipolar ward if you shower you get a gold star. But I'm not going far till the Haldol kicks in -- until then, until then -- I'm stuck in this fucking twin bed and I won't get any cookies or tea, till I stop quoting Nietzsche and brush my teeth and comb my hair." Like some form of clairvoyant madness, "Through the Trees" sneaks in faintly, as though a whisper from a secret world -- one that's always there right outside the door, waiting patiently for an opportunity to consume you."

01. Weightless Again
02. My Sister's Tiny Hands
03. Stalled
04. Where The Trees Lean
05. Cathedrals
06. Down In The Ground
07. The Giant of Illinois
08. Down in the Valley of Hollow Loos
09. I Fell
10. The Woman Downstairs
11. Last Night I Went Out Walking
12. Bury Me Here
13. My Ghost

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When Blanche first emerged in 2004, their mystique was part-rooted in how leader Dan Miller had previously spent time in a couple of late-’90s garage bands that included Jack White. For a while, they seemed happy to ride on the back of that connection. White strummed guitar on first single “Who’s To Say”, while Dan Miller’s creepy, often funny, countryphiles supported the Stripes on a major British tour.

The three-year interim has found Blanche in various states of health: backing Loretta Lynn on Van Lear Rose, sidelined by Miller’s new film career (he was in Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line) and fielding rumours of a serious split. Thankfully, Little Amber Bottles is the work of a band recharged. Feeding off country’s primal impulse, they’re still the embodiment of Old Weird America. Visually, too, they’re spot on. The sort of shock-haired oddballs you’d expect to find stalking the back of the revival tent in O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

“What This Town Needs” finds both Dan and wife Tracee Mae in killer form – like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood cavorting with The Gun Club. His voice is hard, hers oozes an odd warmth. Mrs Miller is best heard on “A Year From Now”, a gorgeous, loping ballad in which banjo and strings are eventually smacked aside by fat guitars. Her own “No Matter Where You Go” is eloquently plucked, aided by guest Isobel Campbell’s serene cello. Resident Blanche banjoist (and Raconteur) Jack Lawrence also offers his own fare, the heavily Gram Parsons-influenced “Death, Where Is Thy Sting?”

For the most part though, these are Dan Miller’s musings. The songs allude to hurdles overcome and demons placated, if hardly cast out. “We Didn’t Quit” is a dark relationship tale, while the initial calm of “The World I Used To Be Afraid Of” suddenly heads into murder ballad territory: “To let you turn your back on true love would have been a mortal sin/So I held you underwater until you finally gave in”. Unsettling to the last, it’s Blanche all over.

01. I'm Sure Of It
02. Last Year's Leaves
03. A Year From Now
04. No Matter Where You Go...
05. What This Town Needs
06. Child Of The Moon - Blanche, Jagger, Mick
07. Little Amber Bottles
08. The World I Used To Be Afraid Of
09. O Death, Where Is Thy Sting
10. I Can't Sit Down - Blanche, Traditional
11. (Exordium)
12. The World's Largest Crucifix
13. Scar Beneath The Skin

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Country music is supposed to tell stories, and nobody tells better, creepier stories than The Handsome Family. These people are downright disturbing -- and disturbed -- which makes it more of a pleasure to hear what they have to say.

Brett Sparks writes the music, and his wife Rennie writes the lyrics. Together, they create dystopian portraits of murderous families, failed (and murderous) love affairs, despondent and hopeless humanity, and restless spirits. But these dark and dreary tales are usually packaged in a wash of purdy banjo plucks and guitar trills. Some songs are more somber, but most sound like cheerful jaunts in the park, until you listen more closely to the sinister and snickering lyrics.

Several years ago, when it seemed that music writers were coining a new term for "alternative" country every ten seconds (remember "y'allternative"?), The Handsome Family were turning out album after album of wry, intelligent, beautiful music that defied cutesy labels. They're still at it, mixing earnest country and roiling punk rock in ways that elicit both grins and grimaces.

In 2001, the duo left Chicago for the sunnier climes of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they've continued to perfect their lyrical brand of classic-meets-avant country. Their new location hasn't changed their dark worldview much, though they have incorporated a bit of the desert twang and "Americachi" influences one associates with the Southwest into their already rich sonic palette.

"Set in a shadowy netherworld, Twilight reasserts the Handsome Family's position as modern-day descendants of the ancient country-folk surrealists gathered on Harry Smith's celebrated Anthology of American Folk Music. Rennie Sparks's songs are filled with animals ("Birds You Cannot See" and "White Dog") and natural images that are both carefree ("Peace in the Valley Once Again") and unnerving ("Snow White Diner"). The lyrics masterfully blend compassionate insight and a real sense of drama and tragedy with an eye for detail and humorous asides. Brett's vocal croon and his background in both experimental avant-garde and Texas rockabilly insures that the duo's music continues to grow far beyond its country roots. The Handsome Family happily flout convention but their stark beauty still shines through--these are some of the strangest and most compelling songs in the warped but wonderful world of alternative country."

01. The Snow White Diner
02. Passenger Pigeons
03. A Dark Eye
04. There Is A Sound
05. All The Tvs In Town
06. Gravity
07. Cold, Cold, Cold
08. No One Fell Asleep Alone
09. I Know You Are There
10. Birds You Cannot See
11. The White Dog
12. So Long
13. Peace In The Valley Once Again

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North America’s Preeminent Hungarian Folk Music Ensemble.
The Életfa Hungarian Folk Band is from the New Jersey/New York area. The Ensemble treats its audiences to a high-energy, entertaining tour of Hungary’s folk music, song and dance culture, guided throughout by engaging narrative and demonstrations. The group’s members specialize in and present the authentic, archaic folklore from the villages of present-day Hungary, Transylvania, Romania, Slovakia and beyond, delivered in a style suitable for Western audiences. The members of Életfa are all driven by their love and respect for Hungarian folk music and dance, the importance in preserving Hungarian dance, music and culture in North America, and the dedication to performing and spreading the joy of music, song and dance.

Életfa played at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic in a "Behind the Music" program featuring the music of Brahms, hosted by actor Alec Baldwin. Életfa has also performed as part of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's community-oriented program.

The band has appeared in cities throughout North America, including Austin, New Orleans, Sarasota, Toronto, San Francisco, Columbus, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Montreal, Houston, Washington, D.C., Miami, Boston, Calgary and Cleveland.

The group has appeared with several well-known Hungarian artists, including Kálmán Balogh, János Csik, András Berecz, Dénes Hruz, Zsuráfszky Zoltán, and Ferenc Tobak. Életfa has accompanied top dance groups of the United States and Canada and has played for audiences at countless festivals, camps, workshops, and solo performances. The ensemble has played live on WFMU (91.1 FM) in New Jersey and has received considerable airplay on U.S. and Hungarian radio, including on WNYC (93.9 FM).

“For over thirteen years Életfa has enjoyed success throughout America, and the CD Gyökereink shows why: from the authentic violin-based group sound to classic Hungarian folk stylings, Életfa has traditional Hungary down pat. Some players are born in the US and some in Hungary, but no matter where their source, the sound is authentic and lively, packed with folk spirit….The band plays for Hungarian enclaves around the U.S. – catch them if you can, Életfa spends a lot of time on the road, touring the country.”

“The Hungarian-Americans in Életfa perform traditional music and dance from Hungary and Transylvania. Playing centuries-old music that retains a celebratory immediacy, the group….sounds ageless and in the moment all at once.”

“An absolutely compelling and zesty album featuring the village music from Hungary and Transylvania by this New Jersey-based group. Being the most recognized Hungarian folk band in North America, 'who have kept people klicking their heels and slapping their feet for nearly two decades,’ the Életfa Hungarian Folk Band delivers with pure, shining musicianship.”


01. Lőrincrévi emlékek
02. Magyarnemegyei muzsika
03. Diőfa
04. Széki ballada
05. Marosszéki dalok
06. Mérai cigánycsárdás
07. Gyimesi kerekes es magyaros
08. Cserkeszcsokor
09. Erdő
10. Calusari
11. Árpádhoni szüreti mulatság
12. Mezőkölpényi dalok
13. Nem úgy van most mint volt régen
14. Mahala
15. Kalotaszegi búcsúzás

Katalin Harsáczki (“Kata”) - vocals
Ildikó Hajdu-Németh (“Ildi”) - violin, vocals
László Hajdu-Németh (“Laci”) - kontra (3-string viola)
József Gartai (“Heki”)- cimbalom and kontra (3-string viola)
Raul Rothblatt (“Raci”) - 3-string bass, string cello, percussive cello
Attila Papp (“Acsi”) - 3-string bass, percussive cello
Kalman Magyar (“Öcsi”) - violin, viola, trumpet-violin, various folk instruments

Link

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"Di Naye Kapelye is the band formed by American-of-Hungarian-ancestry Bob Cohen who headed off to visit the land whence came his parents many years ago, and never left.

The band consists of Bob, fellow American Yankl Falk to represent the Left Coast, and the best local musicians he can find. Given that Bob has been traveling through the wilds of Eastern Europe for decades, jamming and collecting songs, this makes for quite a wild, skilled ensemble. The repertoire, of course, is of the region—songs from all over Eastern Europe from folk tunes to Hasidic nigunim to Communist-era propaganda (hence the title and wonderful Soviet-style graphic on the front cover). This may be the only klezmer album ever recorded that includes Hasidic nign and 1950s Romanian communist ode to the Yiddish tractor—the title track.

Even as I try to put this music into some type of box to describe it, the boxes keep breaking. Listen to Michael Alpert wailing on "A briv fun Yisroel", another 1950s-era Yiddish communist ode, and then a few minutes later the kaval-like vioră cu goarnă. You got your wild hutsul music. You got your token 1915 Americanish klezmer tune (later a hit from Naftule Brandwein). You got cantor Yankl Falk's wonderful voice perfect on an Arkady Gendler tune, "Pirim." You have the gang—even 13-year-old Aron Cohen takes a solo— on "Az nisht keyn emine (one of the aforementioned hasidic nigunim). You have some of the most divine string ensemble playing, featuring an orchestra of instruments from tsimbl to viola, that you'll hear anywhere. Heck, one village band wasn't enough. They pull in whole village band of Tjaciv to supplement the regulars.

The repertoire leave no part of Eastern Europe unscathed. There is even yet another recording of "Mashke," one of the band's signature tunes, even better than the previous recordings—Meyshke and Yankl are in top form here. Then they return the favor and close the album with Alpert's "Chernobyl," one of my favorite contrafactas (a melody applied to new words; this one many of us know better by the chorus, "hu tsa tsa"), an absolutely brilliant bit of writing by Alpert first recorded on the first Brave Old World album (an album that I still travel with). In Yiddish, the lyrics equate the Chernobyl hasidim, and their radiance-based mysticism, with the radiance of the local nuclear power plant disaster of not so long ago.

I fear I slight the instrumentals, but only because I don't know where to begin. It's the band and their friends and amazing people they meet along the way. Especially notable is the "Hutsul Medley," which was, unfortunately, the last recording session for tsimbl player Misu Csernavec, who passed away only a few months later. And, as I mentioned caval earlier, there is a wonderful dance tune titled simply, "Modavian Caval," part of a medley attached to a doina-ish folk tune, "Pastekhl." The piece also features the cimpoi (Moldavian bagpipe).

Bob, Yankl, and the band create magic. There are other great bands playing music from this region, but Cohen has a sense of breadth and balance that make Di Naye Kapelye concerts and recordings always exciting, always breathtaking. This isn't just this week's amazing batch of hutsul music; it's this week's amazing batch of hutsul music in context … a wonderous melange of music that best represents the mixed up world in which we live and makes it better. If I call this a "must have" CD I am being redundant, but I'll do it anyway."

01. Nit Bay Motyen
02. Traktorist
03. Pastekhl Moldavian Caval
04. Schwartz's Sirba A Briv Fun Yisroel
05. Baj Van Medley
06. Az Nisht Keyn Emine
07. Hamanul From Dragomiresti
08. Uncle Arpi's Nokh A Bisl
09. Hoaderes
10. Sadegurer Hosid
11. Hutsul Medley
12. Mashke
13. Pirim
14. Moldvai Zhok
15. “7.40”
16. Chernobyl

Bob Cohen: violin, vocals, koboz, mandolin, Carpathian drum, vioră cu goarnă (Stroh fiddle), cimpoi (Moldavian bagpipe)
Yankl Falk: vocals, clarinet
Antal (Puma) Fekete: kontra, Carpathian drum
Gyula (Kosztya) Kozma: bass
Ferenc Pribojszki: cimbalom, caval, Carpathian drum

with special guests:
Michael (Meyshke) Alpert: vocals, violin, percussion (3, 4, 6, 12)
Aron Cohen: vocals (6)
Josh Dolgin: accordion, piano (4, 10)
Tom Popper & Imre "Kutyuli" Keszthelyi: chorus vocals (12)

The village band from Técső (Tjaciv), Carpatho-Ukraine:
Joska Csernavec: bayan accordion
Misu Csernavec: tsymbaly
Jura Csernavec: drum, plonka, voice
Ivan Popovics: violin
(5, 11, 15, 16)

Link

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"For over two decades, Howe Gelb has worked doggedly and double-time to make it all but impossible to get a good bead on him. In fact, while any number of prominent musicians and artists have joined his orbit, it's still unclear what musical planet Gelb lives on. So goes life in the Arizona desert, where Gelb, both solo and with his ongoing band Giant Sand, has endeavored to make the dust you blow off an LP every bit as important as the music itself.

The ongoing success and evolution of Giant Sand spin-off Calexico may do Gelb no favors in comparison, but the guy clearly doesn't need any. For something as seemingly unfocused as Giant Sand, the band's been remarkably consistent, and proVISIONS is no exception, its array of peyote rock, twilight ballads, space cowboy soundtracks, and spooky sidetracks off the beaten path on par with the band's best work. Still, Gelb doesn't hedge his bets, studding the start of the disc with a string of conspicuous ringers, including appearances by Neko Case ("Without a Word"), Isobel Campbell ("Stranded Pearl"), and M. Ward, whose debut Duet for Guitars #2 was released by Gelb on his OW OM label ("Can Do"). Another track, "The Desperate Kingdom of Love", was written by pal Polly Jean Harvey.

Gelb's no dummy. He knows these famous names will help newcomers pierce his self-adorned cloak of mystery. At the same time, Giant Sand's always been such an informal affair that he also knows that none of these friends will overshadow the music, which is comfortable hanging back in the shadows, anyway. It's there that you'll hear such touches as the return of the Voices of Praise Choir, veterans of 'Sno Angel Like You on "Spiral", or the occasional presence of singer Henriette Sennenvaldt of the somewhat obscure Danish band Under Byen.

Gelb has called Giant Sand "a mood," and that's sure true on cinematic songs such as "Increment of Love" and "Pitch & Sway". Later the loose funk of "Muck Machine", "Saturated Beyond Repair", and the stumbling, obliquely soulful "Belly Full of Fire" find Gelb more forceful and groove-oriented. The latter in particular showcases his unwavering gift for subverting his own strengths, disarming the hooky chorus with an off-kilter arrangement that doesn't sound like it could ever be replicated exactly as is.

It's there in the words, too, where Gelb's lyrics hint at (or overtly reference) Bob Dylan at his most surreal or Tom Waits at his most perplexing, offering wisdom through weirdness and winking wordplay. "Molecule, Molly is nobody's fool/ Comes from an excellent gene pool/ Happy little cells flippin' from her lip and/ Spend the night here screaming for the mother ship/ I ride along surfing on the waves of a lava hip," sings Gelb in "Increment of Love". Such inscrutability can be a real chore in the wrong hands, but with Gelb, getting lost has always been part of the fun. It's not about the destination. It's about the trip."

01. Stranded Pearl
02. Without A Word
03. Can Do
04. Out There
05. Desperate Kingdom Of Love
06. Increment Of Love
07. Spiral
08. Pitch & Sway
09. Muck Machine
10. Belly Full Of Fire
11. Saturated Beyond Repair
12. World's End State Park [Wordless]
13. Well Enough Alone

Thøger T. Lund - Bass
Anders Pederson - Guitar/Slide
Howe Gelb - Guitar/Vocals/Keyboards/Shovel
Peter Dombernowsky - Drums/Percussion

Link

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"While the term "Southern gothic" has become a shorthand description for the Sixteen Horsepower sound, Folklore suggests that the group has embraced the tag. They've redefined their brooding tone by constructing a ruined sonic landscape populated with sullen figures searching not for redemption but catharsis. Filled with murder ballads and tales of sin and redemption, Folklore is the sound of a sinner chasing away both the demons that torment him and the loved ones who fail to see that he has been haunted and changed. That stressful balance is embodied by David Eugene Edwards' wailing vocals, which remain a stunning hybrid of Gram Parsons' white-collar cowboy and Tom Waits' avant-garde crooner. Folklore is the dark side of Americana, almost completely devoid of the hopeful inflections that render so much of that musical tradition life-affirming.

Nearly half of the songs on Folklore are traditional compositions re-arranged and given new life by Edwards and company, which is a testament to 16HP's ability to craft such unique and absorbing atmospheres and textures from tunes that have been available for generations. The propulsive dirge of "Blessed Persistence" is a ghastly torch song, combining elements as diverse as the Violator-era atmospherics of Depeche Mode, the minimalist string arrangements of Rachel's and the stylized guitar sounds of Ennio Morricone's most famous spaghetti-western soundtracks. Imagine an exhausted Robert Plant fronting a vocal interpretation of Labradford's Mi Media Naranja and you'll begin to understand the depth and complexity of the track. Similarly, "Outlaw Song" recalls the dynamism of Zeppelin III, sprite acoustic instrumentation colliding with swelling bass sounds and galloping rhythms. Meanwhile, the raucous, foot-stomping sing-along "Single Girl" (a Carter Family composition) and the album-closing "La Robe a Parasol" are uptempo, uplifting numbers that stand in relief from Folklore's otherwise dark lyrics and sombre instrumentation. The dissonant interplay of violin and banjo on many of the tracks evokes contemporaries like Dirty Three and Palace, their decidedly modern perspective on loss and loneliness informing the timeless aura of the tunes. Each track is strong enough to stand on its own, yet fits with precision into the overall structure of the this Old Testament-fashioned epic.

Revealing itself slowly, like the mythic tales acknowledged by the album's title, Folklore is certainly Sixteen Horsepower's most stunning and accomplished work yet, and an easy nominee for one of 2002's best."

01. Hutterite Mile
02. Outlaw Song
03. Blessed Persistence
04. Alone and Forsaken
05. Single Girl
06. Beyond the Pale
07. Horse Head Fiddle
08. Sinnerman
09. Flutter
10. La Robe a Parasol

David Eugene Edwards: vocals, banjo, mandolin, bazuki, saz, nylon guitar
Jean-Yves Tola: percussion
Pascal Humbert: vocals and double bass

Link

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"San Francisco may never again capture the epiphanic heights of the 1960s, when the Haight-Ashbury intersection was the very cradle of the global countercultural movement, but it seems it's not going to give up trying.
Rupa And The April Fishes is the latest category-defying, pan-everything, all-musical-points-of-the-compass outfit to come from the melting-pot city. They're surprising and delightful, as the punningly titled debut disc Extraordinary Rendition colourfully reveals.
Extraordinary Rendition crackles with energy and seethes with vivid splashes of colour. Sung in French, Spanish and English, it has a likable ability to simultaneously stimulate and soothe, its aromatic melange of sounds throwing up surprise after surprise in a free-wheeling, all-inclusive fashion that intoxicates with every note.
The musical signature owes much to the diversity of the five-piece band, fronted by the eponymous and exotic Rupa Marya, along with the intensely woven but lightly worn reciprocity of their playing. As gently swaying piano accordion mingles with the pulse of a double bass, brass and percussion massage the senses with welcome hints of klezmer, Argentinean tango, French Musette and Roma music. All of this is subtly filtered into a seductively assembled whole.
There's a useful tension, too, between Marya's ambition to say something politically relevant and her aspiration to do so in an determinedly laid-back style. You might catch echoes of DeVotchKa, The Tiger Lillies or Gogol Bordello here but you won't find any of their unfettered hysteria, comic-book grotesquerie or messy rawness. If you absolutely insist on a comparison, think Pink Martini with the emphasis on music rather than on style for style's sake.
Instead, there's something sunlit, warm and free to be found in all of this, and a refreshing honesty, too. It's musical globe-trotting conducted with sophisticated elegance and underpinned by a winning sense of joy."

"If Rupa were a movie she would be Amélie meets Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown meets Latcho Drom meets Do the Right Thing. She'd be set in India and Berkeley...She would be (and, in fact, is) an instant cult classic"

01. (San Francisco)
02. Maintenant
03. Poder
04. C'est Pas D'lamour
05. Américaine A Paris
06. Pécheuse
07. Mal De Mer
08. Abeilles
09. Plus Que Moi
10. Not So Easy
11. Peinture
12. Yaad
13. Wishful Thinking

Marcus "The Tone" Cohen: trumpet
Isabel "Iz" Douglass: accordion, voice
Aaron "Rhone-Ditty-Rhone" Kierbel: percussion, contraptions, fish
Safa "Jazz Spy" Shokrai: upright bass
Ara Anderson: trumpet, bass trumpet
Rupa: songstress, voice, guitar

Link

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"This steamy little disc of Russian and Romanian gypsy music is a case of musicus interruptus. Over in less than a half-hour, it leaves the listener panting for more. Though packaged as a nicely finished product, it is really more of a polished demo than anything else. But this New York based octet has a lot to offer. Every track is crisp and danceable, with sassy, jazzy horns, crashing percussion, and throbbing accordion. Vocalist Inna Barmash warbles as slinkily as a Balkan Edith Piaf.

Her work on "Tanya (A Secret)" is smoldering. On "Rustemul," guitarist Joey Weisenberg and violinist Jake Shulman-Ment set up a down-and-dirty near-rock groove that is picked up by the horns, but alas, at less than two minutes, it's over too soon. Winner of the best subtitle award is "Zaznobila & Baro Foro (She messed with my head in the great city)." It's a fun party song that lives up to the promise of its name. The bonus track is a scratchy, retrofied version of "Tanya." Then, just when the dancers are getting warmed up, it's over. More, more, more!"

01. Mariana
02. Loli Phabay (The Red Apple)
03. Shimdiggy
04. Tayna (A Secret)
05. La Circuma de la Drum (The Tavern on the Road)
06. Rostemul
07. Zaznobila & Baro Foro (Shes Messed With My Head in the Great City)
08. Moldovan Batuta

Inna Barmash (vocals),
Jake Shulman-Ment (violin),
Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin (viola),
Jeff Perlman (clarinet & saxophone),
Ben Holmes (trumpet),
Patrick Farrell (accordion),
Joey Weisenberg (guitar),
Ron Caswell (tuba),
Timothy Quigley (drums & percussion)

Link

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Originally released in Europe, Willard Grant Conspiracy’s sixth album, Let It Roll finally finds a domestic release for leader Robert Fisher’s weary baritone and frightening tales of probity.

Fisher’s relative anonymity stateside probably has a lot to do with the fact that he can be a challenging listen, and with ten songs clocking in at over an hour, Let It Roll is one tortuous record.

With somber visions and a voice that echoes late-period Nick Cave, Willard Grant Conspiracy is very much a thinking man’s Americana, providing listeners who don’t possess a modicum of patience little incentive to explore. But like some of those big-ass books still sitting on your shelf that appear too intimidating to start, Let It Roll can be an enjoyable read if you manage to find the time to sit down with it.

Starting with “From A Distant Shore”, a first-person account of a soldier preparing for battle overseas, Fisher wisely chooses to accompany the tale with a metaphoric trumpet and haunting violin. The subject matter is far from a pleasant one and it foreshadows some of the weighty themes that W.G.C. examines throughout the rest of the album.

The title track, one of the lengthiest songs on the disc, starts with three minutes of passionate guitar and violin turbulence before Fisher sets foot behind the mic with an equally intense murder ballad. By seven minutes, he’s defiantly yelling on his way to the gallows “There’s nothing to dying more than a ropes last whisper,” to the point where his voice has grown hoarse. Powerful stuff.

“Breach,” the second track to clock in at over nine minutes, strolls along like a last-call conversation, which can be either a provocation or pleasure depending on your own state of inebriation.

The liquor seems to flow again with W.G.C.’s cover of Dylan’s “Ballad Of A Thin Man.” Fisher gradually builds up Bobby’s ominous verses until he’s rasping the lyrics while guitarist Jason Victor creates some gruff six string verbalization of his own.

There are parts of Let It Roll which recall Dream Syndicate’s stunning The Medicine Show for good reason: Steve Wynn joins W.G.C.’s collective approach as a co-songwriter for the song “Flying Low” and backing vocalist. I’m sure the collaboration came from a feeling of mutual respect for one another and Fisher has found a great frame of reference in his own attempt at creating a commanding record.

As imposing as it strives to be, the unfastened quality of the performances oftentimes makes it seem too convoluted to receive the attention it deserves. But for those that can find the time to embrace it, Let It Roll turns out to be one helluva read.

"Boston-based music group Willard Grant Conspiracy sure knows how to make a music critic's job tough. Whereas most bands can be blithely described with a few words, WGC practically requires a new genre tag. Stylistically, it's got strong folk-rock and rootsy overtones but isn't exactly Americana. Instead, WGC couches the disquieting angst of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen in the baroque-like elegance of Belle & Sebastian at their most melancholic. Lead singer Robert Fisher's smooth, contemplative baritone has a winning straightforwardness mingled with world-weariness and suspicion. On the ditty "Flying Low," he croons, "And I dreamed I saw the angels flying low/They encompass all that's good, or so I'm told." The album is lent orchestral savor by the regal-sounding violin/viola of Josh Hillman and the yearning trumpet of guest Dennis Cronin. Rendering Roll more cathartic than depressing is WGC's occasional forays into wrenching rockin' dissonance a la Roxy Music and John Cale-era Velvet Underground. Dylan fans may not like the droll, thundering rendition of his "Ballad of a Thin Man." With WGC, it appears that glum is good."

01. From A Distant Shore
02. Let It Roll
03. Dance With Me
04. Skeleton
05. Flying Low
06. Breach
07. Crush
08. Mary Of The Angels
09. Ballad Of A Thin Man
10. Lady Of The Snowline

Link

"On first thought, the idea of the Man in Black recording such covers as "Bridge over Troubled Water," "Danny Boy," and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" might seem odd, even for an artist who's been able to put his personal stamp on just about everything. But American IV: The Man Comes Around, which also draws on Cash's original songs as well as those by Nine Inch Nails ("Hurt"), Sting ("I Hung My Head"), and Depeche Mode ("Personal Jesus"), may be one of the most autobiographical albums of the 70-year-old singer-songwriter's career. Nearly every tune seems chosen to afford the ailing giant of popular music a chance to reflect on his life, and look ahead to what's around the corner. From the opening track--Cash's own "The Man Comes Around," filled with frightening images of Armageddon--the album, produced by Rick Rubin, advances a quiet power and pathos, built around spare arrangements and unflinching honesty in performance and subject. In 15 songs, Cash moves through dark, haunted meditations on death and destruction, poignant farewells, testaments to everlasting love, and hopeful salutes to redemption. He sounds as if he means every word, his baritone-bass, frequently frayed and ravaged, taking on a weary beauty. By the time he gets to the Beatles' "In My Life," you'll very nearly cry. Go ahead. He sounds as if he's about to, too. Unforgettable."

01. The Man Comes Around (by Johnny Cash)
02. Hurt (written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails)
03. Give My Love to Rose (by Johnny Cash)
04. Bridge over troubled Water (by Paul Simon)
05. I Hung My Head (Sting)
06. The First Time I Saw Your Face (Ewan MacColl)
07. Personal Jesus (Martin L. Gore)
08. In My Life (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
09. Sam Hall (Arranged by Johnny Cash)
10. Danny Boy (Arranged by Johnny Cash
11. Desperado (Glenn Frey/Don Henley)
12. I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)
13. Tear Stained Letter (Johnny Cash)
14. Streets of Laredo (Arranged and Adapted by Johnny Cash)
15. We'll Meet Again (Ross Parker/Hugh Charles)

Link

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